


Forever will defend

by CrystalNavy



Series: Marineford collection [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst and Feels, Families of Choice, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 03:29:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16032053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalNavy/pseuds/CrystalNavy
Summary: It's always been the duty of older siblings to take care of and protect their youngest sibling.





	1. Helping hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will you let us be the ones doing the helping for a change?

Self-hate.

We're all familiar with this concept. We've seen it destroy countless people, men and women alike. But now......now we regret ever learning about the concept. Because all the signs are there.

You were always a strange one. It had been that way since the beginning. In fact, you are the glue that kept us together ever since you came into our lives. You attached your claws to all of our hearts, and you never let go. Not that we wanted you to. You are the epitome of vitality, the one person who gave us hope, when there was none.

But the hope you gave to us was tainted, for you took it away from yourself to give it to us, bit by bit. Till you had none left to give.

Your inner self is a writhing mass of black, ugly thoughts. Thoughts that shouldn't be there, but still are. You built a wall between yourself and the rest of us, even after you stopped resisting us. We could only guess that it was to protect both us and yourself from pain. But it wasn't enough, was it? That pain was a part of you, one which couldn't be separated from the rest of you. 

And even now, you shy away from us, and from our love. You claim that this entire thing is your fault, and you might even be right, but this changes nothing, not in our eyes. Because we're a family, and we look after each other. It is, after all, the duty of older siblings to watch over their youngest. And, among all of us, you are easily the youngest.

So we have been watching over you. We were there for you from the beginning, even if you didn't realize it. We saved you from the sea countless times, and we would do so over and over again. You have faced countless enemies, mostly to help us overcome what we couldn't.

But you too had an enemy you couldn't overcome. And despite being willing to help us overcome what we couldn't by ourselves, you never let us do the same for you. Now we know why. It's because your greatest enemy - the one you couldn't overcome - was yourself. We've all been there. We all have our demons. But your demons are bigger than the ones we have.

And all this time, you kept from us, the secret that would destroy you if anyone found out about it. That's probably why you kept it from us, fearing that we would hate you if we ever found out about it. Well, now that we did find out, know that we don't care. 

You have no idea how much every whimper you let out in response to our determination to keep you alive hurts us, do you? It hurts far more than any physical blow could. 

You have been the kind of person who'd give up everything for the sake of your loved ones. Everything you've done, every decision you've made, had ultimately been for someone else's sake.

We think it's about time that the roles were switched, do you not agree? Let us take on some of your burden for once. It's the duty of the older siblings to help whenever they could.

Let us help you for a change.

Won't you, Ace?


	2. My escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But maybe, we could bask in that warmth together.....

My whole life had been one big black hole.

A cold piece of the vast expanse that is the world. Even back when I was a child, it was the same. I expected warmth, yet all was given were jeers and cruel words. In the beginning, they hurt, but I conditioned myself to not let them get to me. I was tougher than that. I wasn't so weak that a couple of words would hurt me.

And yet, a part of me yearned for the warmth. The warmth I didn't need or deserve. It would be like that for the rest of my life. I didn't need anyone, except myself. This belief only strengthened when I lost one of the people I had come to accept as a part of me. I didn't need anyone. They all left in the end anyway.

And now, I didn't know what to think. To think of them. They kept me. At first, I thought that they only wanted me as some kind of spoil of their victory, and so I shut them out. But in the end, I knew that I was wrong. And bit by bit, my wall started to crumble down. I was scared. Scared out of my wits. They were all smiles. And with each smile, and each casual touch, my walls crumbled further. 

And I was scared. Scared of being exposed. Scared of them realizing who I really was. If they found out, I was a goner. Best case scenario, they would kick me out, and I couldn't go back. Not after experiencing this. Worst case scenario, they would just kill me. They would be doing the world a favor, getting rid of me and my tainted blood.

So, I decided to test them. I revealed my secret, in private. And the only reaction I got was soft laughter, followed up by the very words I've been yearning to hear.

But this couldn't be real, could it? It couldn't be happening to someone like me.......

I walked out of that cabin, and my heart was fluttering, aglow with the kind of emotion that I couldn't place. This was.......this was what I had been looking for this whole time. And now that I have found it, I didn't know what to say.

Of course, as I knew in my heart, nothing good in my life remained. That was the rule, and I was a fool to believe it would go differently, now. Fate saw fit to take everything and everyone I care about away from me. 

The betrayal drove all of us into a frenzy. Me most of all. I left to chase down the one responsible. If I had known that this act of loyalty would end up jeopardizing the rest of them, I never would have gone.

But of course, I didn't know, and so I went. 

From there, things went downhill pretty fast. 

Which led to my current situation. I was trapped in the prison of my own making, one I created for myself with my anger and my pride. 

Thousands upon thousands of elite soldiers, Marines and other pirates alike, had gathered here today, and they all had one purpose.

To see me die.

The insignia on my back burned me with its significance. It was nothing more than a grim reminder of the fact that they would surely come, and be slaughtered like pigs. I earnestly hoped that they would see the utter folly of such an endeavor, and leave me to my fate. As long as they were happy, I would happily die.

But of course it didn't work that way. 

Everyone was there, and by everyone, I mean everyone. Every single member of our main crew - along with the allied crews and all of their forces - were here.

And then I found my voice.

"You actually came?" 

My voice was raspy and strange. It was not used for a week, after all. 

Guess I shouldn't have been suprised. The odds like this meant nothing to them.

And so they came.

All of them came for me.


	3. Fight the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our time is here.......

How does one fight the world?

The simple answer is, no one can.

And this begs the question, who is the real prisoner?

You, whose shackles have been superimposed onto you by the world - or us, who have been imprisoned by something far more profound?

I suppose we'll never know the answer to that question either.

The time comes. We draw our weapons as one, and we jump into the fray.

And we feel your gaze resting on us. It gives us the strength to continue. 

You give us the strength to continue.

Because just as you are the prisoner of the world, we're prisoners too. 

And that's something we don't regret.

It was our choice to be here. 

Any of us could have chosen to jump ship and not come, but we didn't.

Know why?

It's because of our loyalty to family. Each and every single member of our family matters.

You matter.

You understand that much, don't you?

And so here we are, in the war for the fate of a single man.

That man is you.

Us and our allies are playing a dangerous game. We're soldiers with the rarest kind of motivation there is.

Opposing us are the most elite among the Marines.

And then there is you. The centerpiece of this game. 

The piece that would end the game if lost.

Every other piece and the way they move, all of it is centered around you.

And we know that being that important in this kind of situation can do a number of anyone.

You most of all.

But, you don't need to worry.

For we won't let the most important piece be lost.

We'll protect that piece.

We'll protect you.

It's true that no one could fight the world. Not by their lonesome, anyway.

But the moment the world threatens one of our own, we band together, as a unified fighting force.

And that's how the world can be defeated. By fighting against it as one, united under a common goal.

**Author's Note:**

> Here, have this heartwarming piece. *sniffles*


End file.
